


Talk it Out

by decidueye



Category: Leverage
Genre: Communication, Jealousy, Multi, parker gets up to mischief
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 08:36:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17138510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/decidueye/pseuds/decidueye
Summary: Parker's taken a sudden interest in Quinn's love life, and Eliot wants to know why.





	Talk it Out

**Author's Note:**

  * For [poppetawoppet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/poppetawoppet/gifts).



> Happy Holidays! I hope you enjoy this fic, I'm a sucker for healthy communication so I, uh, really leaned into that request.

“Are you gonna tell me what this is all about now, or what?”

Eliot doesn’t mince words when he gets into the apartment that evening - far later than he should have, but Parker is ready to greet him with a cheery smile until he speaks. Then she turns her back to him, abandoning her plan to leap over the couch and instead sitting on it with her arms folded in front of her, avoiding eye contact.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she says, and while they both know it’s fruitless - and frustrating - of her to play dumb, she’s not  _ lying _ , because Parker always has around five different schemes running at once, and she wants to keep her cards close to her chest until she knows which Eliot has found out about.

“All this Quinn business. First you ask me a bunch of personal questions about his likes that I’m hardly supposed to know about a gunman for hire, and  _ then _ he calls me this afternoon telling me I have to break him out of a high-security prison because you set him up on a date with an  _ Avenger _ , and apparently it’s my job to clean up after you.”

Parker flinches at that, and Eliot regrets it as soon as he speaks, passing over the arm of the couch to sit next to her, not touching but offering his presence. He’s still angry - getting shot at will do that to you - but Parker’s only just learning to let people take on some of her burdens as it is, and it won’t help Eliot understand what’s going on if all he can do is prod at her sensitivities.

He’s only just learning that he doesn’t have to exploit people to get them to open up to him. They’re all works in progress. Parker still won’t meet his eyes, but she bumps her arm against his, a small gesture of reassurance and forgiveness.

“He wanted me to tell you that things didn’t work out, by the way,” Eliot grumbles, and Parker laughs in response. It’s a brash sound, unrestrained in spite of herself, and the tension in Eliot’s stomach eases. He loves hearing Parker laugh.

“I figured, if he’s complaining to you. A shame, I thought they’d have such good chemistry… I’ve learned all about that now. It’s what we have!” She grins at Eliot with raised eyebrows, and he snorts. “And Hardison too. I thought it was a made up way of breaking up with someone at first, but it makes sense now.”

“It sure does. But the kind of chemistry a superhero and a hitman will have can’t really lead anywhere good, unless it’s the movies. Quinn’s not like us, you know... he doesn’t really fall in that - that ‘moral grey area’ that lets them cooperate with us sometimes. He’s getting closer to it, but...”

Parker whines, her lower lip sticking out as she leans into Eliot, and he wraps an arm around her waist, squeezing. When Hardison catches her pouting, he’ll tug on her lip until she squeals, and it’s cute on them, but Eliot’s never been able to do it. He can do this, though, and that’s enough for her.

“Why are you so interested in Quinn’s love life all of a sudden, anyway? I heard that you tried to set him up with  _ Maggie _ before this.”

“That was a great idea!”

“Until you factor Nate into the equation. Sure, technically he’s moved on, but if she dates someone he thinks isn’t good enough, he’s gonna blow up the cafe before he lets them hit it off.”

“He only caused a small fire…” Parker protests, but she’s laughing again, and it’s better now. Eliot shouldn’t have come into this angry; Parker always has a reason for doing things. “I just thought it would be nice for him to have someone.”

“Why, though?” Parker is a force of nature, but she doesn’t often willingly involve herself in other people’s lives. Eliot hadn’t even thought that she and Quinn were friends; she didn’t want to hear about it when Eliot spent time with him, and their interactions could only be called ‘civil’ with a thorough understanding of Parker’s character.

“I dunno,” she said, bringing her knees up to her chin. “He’s always hanging around you these days, so I thought he might be lonely.”

“Well, we’re friends,” Eliot points out, “even if he did get a date, we’d probably still hang out.”

“Just friends?” Parker asks, tilting her head to peer at him. Something clicks, and Eliot’s eyebrows shoot up to his forehead.

“Is that what this is? You’re jealous?” 

Parkers face twists into a grimace when he asks, and Eliot gets it - the word  _ jealousy _ stings, and it feels like it shouldn’t even be possible in a relationship like the three of theirs. It’s technically open, after all, and neither Parker nor Eliot are used to dealing with the dirtier aspects of romance. Jealousy - validation - insecurity - they’re not things that either of them have ever had to deal with before, and admitting to them feels like admitting weakness, even if Hardison says he has enough experience with it for the three of them.

It doesn’t help, either, that Eliot can’t tell Parker that he’s  _ not _ attracted to Quinn, and she’s probably already noticed. They’ve been through too much together for Parker to be trying to get rid of someone he’s had a couple of drinks with, so there must have been something in the way Eliot spoke about him…

Parker knows Eliot too well. It’s an uncomfortable fact, one that sits on Eliot’s gut with some indiscernible weight. Sometimes it makes him feel as if he is drowning; other times, he floats with it.

He feels Parker’s weight shift against him, her curled up body tucking itself into his side as if she might be able to disappear into it, and squeezes her a little tighter, giving her a soft shake.

“C’mon Parker, don’t be like that. You know he’s not you, and he never could be. Why didn’t you say something?”

Parker grumbles into his shoulder, her words deliberately masked, and Eliot tries to rein in his usual impatience. It’s okay if she takes a while to get there, as long as she talks to him.

Not for the first time, he wishes Hardison was there. Neither of them are built for talking, and something about Hardison - maybe the way he can never shut his damn mouth - makes it easier. He would sit between them with a hand in each of theirs, squeezing until Parker felt able to express herself and Eliot felt able to listen.

Hardison’s working, though, and this relationship still exists no matter how many of them are present at the time, so they’ve got to get through this one on their own. Eliot knows that they can, because they’ve done it before; Parker knows too, but she might have forgotten.

“I don’t -  _ feel _ \- like I’m -  _ allowed _ to,” Parker enunciates carefully, each word forced out around her own resistance, and her struggle is palpable enough to make Eliot cringe. He doesn’t say ‘what do you mean?’, because he knows he has to wait, and eventually Parker is ready to continue.

“We’re open, we’ve always been open, and I like it when you’re happy? I should like it when someone else makes you happy. Quinn’s more your speed and he’s a good looking guy - I guess - and he makes you laugh so I’m not allowed to be jealous, am I? If I was, we wouldn’t be open.”

Eliot tries to figure out how all of the facts she’s listed fit together. “You’re  _ allowed _ to feel whatever you feel. Or - it’s not about being allowed, that’s not a thing that anyone can do. You can’t fight that shit. Besides, what you’re not allowed to do includes things like go behind my back to set my friend up.”

“I just thought that if his attention was elsewhere, that I wouldn’t have to think about it anymore.”

“There’s logic in that, I guess...Or, well, your kind of logic. But what if I met someone else, huh? What if I actually started something with someone? I haven’t even told you I like Quinn yet.”

“But you do,” Parker says. Eliot shrugs.

“I guess, maybe...I don’t know. It takes me a while, you know this. I don’t trust him like I do you.”

He says that in part because he knows Parker will like it, and he’s rewarded by a small, secret smile, her lips tucked into his clavicle.

“I’m not gonna do anything to jeopardize this, Parker. It’s too important to me, we’ve fought too hard. Sure, Quinn’s great, but if you don’t wanna be open I’m not gonna pursue it, and if I  _ do _ pursue it, I’m gonna be talking to you every step of the way.”

“Even though talking is hard?” Parker asks. Her voice is small, the question genuine, and Eliot can’t help but laugh at the weight put into it.

“Yeah, even though it’s hard. You’re worth it. Hardison is, too,” he presses a kiss to her temple, holding her close. 

“Me, what?” Hardison asks, coming through the door. Eliot swears, unused to being taken by surprise, and Parker snickers, grinning up at him before lifting her head to look at Hardison.

“We’re worth it,” she says, without bothering to explain, and Hardison laughs, as if that’s all he needs to know. Maybe it is; Hardison has always been willing to wait for them, and has never pried - even though he’s the best equipped to, given his profession.

“Hell yeah!” He pumps his fist, leaping over the couch to land in Eliot’s lap. Eliot swears again, but he can’t help the smile that forms on his face. Whatever might happen with Quinn, and whatever any of them might want, he doesn’t  _ need _ anything else; his home and security is right here.

**Author's Note:**

> Mostly I'm in anime/she-ra hell these days but I'm always weak for leverage. Find me on [twitter](twitter.com/raindryad) or [dreamwidth](fukurodani.dreamwidth.org)


End file.
